The Yas Marina track received widespread approval – not always a given when Formula One teams, with their specialist needs, race for the first time on a new circuit, particularly in a region with very little motorsport heritage. The second of two practice sessions was run through dusk and into darkness on the exact time scale for Sunday's 55-lap Abu Dhabi grand prix.

"It's a stunning facility and a credit to the people here," said Ross Brawn. "It's a very interesting track with a challenging combination of corners. Our drivers [Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello] are really enjoying the track and have made no adverse comments about the lighting; it's high above the track and doesn't seem to be casting any distracting shadows.

"It looks like it will be great for racing with a slow corner leading on to the straight and a slow corner at the end of it giving a good opportunity for overtaking. It's quite hard on brakes and that could be a factor in the race."

The approach of darkness allowed at least one helmet manufacturer, Arai, to experiment successfully with tear-off visors, starting with tinted visors, designed to deal with the setting sun which can be torn off to reveal clearer visors as the evening wears on.

The Yas Marina track is but a small part of a $40bn (£24bn) development embracing what could be harshly described as the purchase of culture. The discovery of oil in the late 1950s made Abu Dhabi the wealthiest of the seven Emirates when the UAE was formed in 1971. Much of that money is going towards development being carried out through a slow, sustainable expansion programme across two decades. There are plans for a cultural district that will boast the Louvre Abu Dhabi and a Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim, sites that are currently holes in the ground on Saadiyat Island.

The construction of the race track on nearby Yas Island has, appropriately enough, been carried out at a breakneck pace. Work began in February 2007; 1.6 million cubic meters of earthwork and 225,000 cubic metres of concrete later, this addition to the F1 calendar has raised the bar through the glittering roof of the futuristic five-star Yas Hotel straddling the track.

Much the same was said in 2004 when the Shanghai circuit brought Formula One to China. That facility, in a shabby industrial area an hour's drive from the city centre, is in danger of becoming a white elephant if the government becomes disenchanted with low attendance figures and a lack of interest within a population possessing little knowledge of motor sport. Who is to say the Yas Marina project will not go the same way once Bernie Ecclestone and his board have lined their pockets and moved on?

"This is a different concept altogether," says Richard Cregan, CEO of the circuit. "The buildings within the circuit are designed to be used for other motorsport events, corporate conferences and public events. It's massively accessible, being 12 minutes from the international airport and 20 minutes from the city centre.

"There are yacht clubs, golf clubs, hotels and the Ferrari World theme park close by and they can exploit the circuit, as can local businesses, for driving days and so on. We will use the amphitheatre created by one of the grandstands to stage concerts. There are numerous ways we and the community will be able to use all of the facilities throughout the year."

Having worked for Toyota for 24 years and managed the team, Cregan was familiar with the sophisticated requirements of teams expecting to decant from Brazil and get straight down to winning the final race. There would be no allowances for this being a new venue ignorant of Formula One's special needs. The Dubliner has been as good as his word. A recent reconnaissance by the logistics manager from one team found nothing wanting – a first for a new venue. With the event having recently sold out, the settling of the championship appears not to have had a detrimental effect.

"We've had an amazing response locally, nationally and internationally and every ticket has been sold," said Cregan. "This will be the first F1 race at Yas Marina; the first day into evening F1 race – and there will be only one driver who will forever be recognised in F1 history as the winner of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"I've always felt that whether Abu Dhabi had a championship decider or not, we're going to have a great weekend. The fact the championship has been decided in Brazil leaves the teams and drivers in a more relaxed mode and they will enjoy the challenge more. Winning the race is at stake. And what could be better than having an end-of-season grand prix that puts the focus back on the track and not the paddock?

"People are going to see a project they didn't think would be finished. They are going to see a project that not only has been finished, but has been finished with the kind of detail you would expect for this part of the world and Abu Dhabi."

There are many novelties, such as the run-off area at the end of the back straight running beneath a grandstand which is one of several that will accommodate a total of 50,000 spectators, all under cover. The straight, now the longest in Formula One, allows the cars to stretch their legs before tackling a return loop which resembles Monaco as it skirts a marina and passes beneath the Yas Hotel.

Cregan says established venues must not be ignored but hopes the Yas Marina project will show that newcomers, well thought out and managed, have a place, too.